The last event of the UROC season was held at the
Devil's Rock Pile two miles south of Vernal Utah. The stage was set
for a show down between the point leaders for the $20,000 + purse.
Brandon Gillen (2001 reigning Champion) and Chris Durham were
second in points trailing Curt Hildebrand who was leading the
points chase in the Unlimited Class. In the Legend Class Dean
Bulloch had won two events in a row with Jeff Rector trailing by a
small margin. Dean was the favorite and a marked man with all the
Legend competitors gunning for him.
Curt Hildebrand narrowly edged out Brandon Gillen for
first in Series Unlimited victory. Curt finished 3rd at the Rock
Pile compared to Brandon's 7th place. This placed Curt first with
Brandon Second. Captain America (Tom LeBlanc) was third in the
series.
Captain America (Tom LeBlanc) from Washington picked
up third in the series and tied for eight at the event with some of
his most impressive driving of the year. Tom made it up the Wicked
Wedgie with 16 points using a 40-foot run at the toughest obstacle
on the course. Tom is always the crowd favorite in his red, white
and blue Jeep with the fans following him around in anticipation of
his next round of crazy antics.
Dean Bulloch won the Legend Class series with his two
first place finishes at St. George and Cedar City combined with
second at the Devil's Rock Pile in Vernal. Dean's consistency made
him the obvious target of all the Legend Class competitors. Jeff
Rector was quoted as saying "I just want to beat Dean once!" It
wasn't to be this time as Dean put on a near flawless performance
this time out.
Jeff Rector took third in Legends at the event and
second overall for the season. Jeff has been right behind Dean all
season keeping him honest! Jeff will get another chance at the
World Championship in Farmington October 9-12 to get the best of
Dean. Jeff is reportedly going all out on his rig for the
SuperCrawl with the addition of coil over suspension and weight
reduction in key places. Go for it Jeff!
Matt and Garrett Sisson from Farmington came in first
for the Vernal event in the Legend Class. This Farmington team may
well have been the ones to beat for the series if they had competed
in all the events this year. These two brothers are a tough
combination to beat and have proved to be very durable this year in
their YJ. What does the Farmington SuperCrawl hold for these up-
coming stars on their own territory?
John Gilleland drove his Avalanche built Jeep Liberty
to another first place win at the Rock Pile with an impressive
score of -5. This is John's second victory in a row and he may well
be the favorite at the World Championship SuperCrawl. He was one of
the few competitors who topped the Wicked Wedgie with only four
points! This obstacle stopped most competitors dead in their tracks
lying sideways!
Scott Gadsden from Florida placed second at the Rock
Pile in a Charlie Copsey built rig with 45 points. This is Scott's
first year of competition and he has really come on strong with two
second place finishes in a row. Scott will certainly be a contender
in Farmington.
The Iceland team of Emil Emmilson was on hand at
Vernal to view the course and pick up on tips for their upcoming
debut in American competition at the SuperCrawl World Championship
in Farmington. The Iceland competitors were quoted as saying,
"American vehicles are poorly prepared and we will win"! With all
the foreign competitors coming to the World Championship in
Farmington, it is difficult to predict who will win. Iceland,
Israel, Italy, Finland and Canada provide a new factor to US rock
crawling and may well prove to be the joker in the deck by taking
the title away from the US!
The World Championship SuperCrawl in Farmington will
be the deciding event of the 2002 year. Top US and foreign
competitors will battle against each other for the right to be
called the best in the world. With two classes and large payouts,
this is the event to be at whether you're a spectator, competitor,
sponsor or vendor.
To be eligible for the SuperCrawl contestants must
have placed in the top ten at a major rock crawling event in the US
retroactive to August 2001. Foreign competitors are by invitation
and must be recognized as top competitors from their respective
country. For more information see www.uroc4x4.com or call UROC at
435 864 2415.
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